Slab heating furances and extractors



March 29, 1966 H. J. KALBERKAMP 3,

SLAB HEATING FURNACES AND EXTRACTORS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 24, 1962 INVENTOR Herman J. Kulberkump March 29, 1966 H. J. KALBERKAMP 3,243,059

SLAB HEATING FURNACES AND EXTRACTORS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 24, 1962 INVENTOR Hermon J. Kulberkump g United States Patent 3 243 059 SLAB HEATING FUR NAES AND EXTRACTQRS Herman J. Kalberkamp, Whitehall Borough, Pa., assignor to Mesta Machine Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed May 24, 1962, Ser. No. 197,455 6 Claims. (Cl. 214-26) This invention relates to slab heating furnaces and extractors and particularly to a furnace and delivery slab extractor for handling slabs of steel and the like from a slab heating furnace to a slab transfer table.

Slabs of steel and the like are conventionally pushed through a slab heating furnace, one against another, from the entry to the discharge end. At the discharge end of the furnace the slabs have, in the past, been pushed off the furnace hearth onto a sloping runway which permitted them to slide across the table rolls up an opposite slope and return to the table rolls after which the slabs were carried on the table rolls to a mill. This practice resulted in edge and bottom damage to the slab during the sliding movement and caused undue rejection of the finished prodnot from the carry-over of scars from such damage.

. I have invented a slab extractor which eliminates this sliding of the slabs and permits the heated slab to be carried directly from the furnace hearth to the table rolls. In a preferred embodiment I provide a furnace having a hearth, an entry end and a delivery end on said hearth, means successively urging slabs across said hearth from the entry to the delivery end, table rolls adjacent said furnace at the delivery end, movable arm means forming in one extreme position an extension of said hearth in the furnace and in the other extreme position lying etween and beneath the table rolls and means carrying the arms generally in a direction parallel to the direction of slab movement on the hearth from said one extreme position in the furnace to the other extreme position. Preferably the furnace is provided with a movable door adjacent the delivery end of the hearth opening to pass the arm and slab. Cam surface means are preferably provided on the arm cooperating with a cam follower means adjacent the table rolls for guiding the arms from one extreme position to the other.

In the foregoing general description I have set out certain objects, purposes and advantages of my invention. Other objects, purposes and advantages will be apparent from a consideration of the following description and the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 'is a side elevation partly in section of a preferred embodiment of a slab furnace and delivery slab extractor according to my invention;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the slab extractor of FIGURE 1 with the furnace in section;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation, partly in section of a second embodiment of my invention; and

FIGURE 4 is a top lan view partly in section of the embodiment of FIGURE 3.

Referring to the drawings, I have illustrated a slab furnace having a hearth with hearth skids 11 running longitudinally thereof. A delivery well 12 is provided at the delivery end 13 of the hearth 10 and below the level thereof. An access opening 14 having a bottom portion with slotted openings 15 and a closure door 16 .is provided into the delivery well 12 below the level of the hearth and on the opposite side of the well 12 therefrom. Table rolls 17 of conventional form extend along the delivery end of the furnace adjacent access opening 14. Slab extractor arms 18 are provided for movement between pairs of rolls l7 and through access slots 15. These arms are provided at one end with a slab receiving surface 19 and at the other end with rack means 20. Intermediate the slab receiving surface 19 and the rack means 20 ice Patented Mar. 29, 1966 there is provided a cam surface 21 adapted to roll over a cam roller 22 which supports the arms 18 and guides them from one extreme position to the other. The rack means 20 engages pinion means 23 driven by a motor 24 through a gear reducer 25, drive shaft 26 and drive gears 27. A pair of holding rol-ls 28 bear upon the rack opposite the pinion to guide and hold the rack in its traverse.

In operation a slab 29a is pushed onto the slab receiving surface 19 by a next succeeding slab 29b on hearth skids 11. The motor 24 is energized to drive pinion 23 which carries the rack means 20 to the left viewing FIGURE 1 thereby drawing the cam surface 21 of arm 18 over the cam roller 22 to the successive positions shown in chain line until the heated slab is deposited on the table rolls.

The furnace end wall 106 extending to a pointbelow the level of the skids 11 provides, along with the access door 16, a means for maintaining heat on the slab edges so as to prevent cold spots on the slabs.

In the embodiment of my invention shown in FIG- URES 3 and 4, I have illustrated a second embodiment of my invention. In this embodiment a hearth 50 is provide-d with furnace skids 51 in usual fashion. An access opening 52 is provided in the end of the furnace with an access door or cover 53. Adjacent to the access opening 52 are provided table rollers 54. Slab extractor arms 55 are movable between pairs of rolls 54 and the access opening 52. These arms 55 are provided at one end with a slab receiving surface 56 and at the opposite end with rack means 57. Intermediate the slab receiving surface 56 and the rack means 57 is provided a cam surface 58 which rides on cam rollers 59' adjacent the table rolls which guides the slab receiving surface from one extreme position adapted to receive a heated slab within the furnace to the other extreme position (in chain line on FIGURE 3) in which the slab is deposited on the table rolls 54.

The rack means 57 engages pinion means 60 driven by a motor 61 through a gear reducer 62 and a drive shaft 63.

In the foregoing description I have set out certain preferred embodiments of my invention; it will, however, be obvious to men skilled in the art that this invention may be otherwise embodied within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a slab heating line having a furnace, a hearth in said furnace, an entry end and a delivery end on said hearth, means successively urging slabs across said hearth to be heated from the entry to the delivery end, table rolls adjacent said furnace at the delivery end, the improvement comprising an access opening in the furnace adjacent the table rolls and below the furnace hearth, movable arm means adapted to move in a vertical plane parallel to the axes of the rolls, a slab receiving surface on said a-rm means movable with the arms from a first position within the furnace forming an extension of the hearth to a second and lower position beneath the table rolls, a cam surface on said arms and a cooperating guide means adjacent the furnace for guiding said arms from one position to the other while raising and lowering the arms to position the slab receiving surface to pass through the access opening and drive means acting on said arms to move them longitudinally on the guide means.

2. A slab heating line as claimed in claim 1 wherein the furnace has an end wall extending vertically from a position at least as low as the hearth and the guide means is a roller and the cam surface is arranged to move the slab receiving surface of the extractor arms from a position within the furnace forming an extension of the hearth generally vertically downwardly until a slab thereon is beneath the end wall of the furnace, then generally horizontally out of the furnace to a position in which the slab is over the table rolls and finally generally vertically 3 downwardly below the top surface of said table rolls whereby the slab is deposited on said rolls.

3. In a slab heating line having a furnace, a hearth in said furnace, an entry end and a delivery end on said hearth, means successively urging slabs across said hearth to be heated from the entry to the delivery end, an end wall on said furnace adjacent the delivery end of the hearth, table rolls adjacent said furnace at the delivery end, the improvement comprising an access opening in the furnace end wall adjacent the table rolls and below the furnace hearth, movable elongated arm means adapted to move in a vertical plane generally parallel to the axes of the rolls, a slab receiving surface on said arm means movable with the arms from a first position within the furnace forming an extension of the hearth to a second and lower position beneath the table rolls, a cam surface on said arms and a cooperating guide means adjacent the furnace for guiding said arms from one position to the other while raising and lowering the arms to position the slab receiving surface to pass through the access opening, rack means on the arms, pinion means engaging said rack means and drive means acting on said pinio-ns to move the arms longitudinally on the guide means.

4. A slab heating line as claimed in claim 1 wherein the access opening is at a level below the level of the hearth, and the guide means is a roller and the cam surface is arranged to move the slab receiving surface of the extractor arms from a position within the furnace forming an extension of the hearth generally vertically downwardly until a slab thereon is below the level of the hearth of the furnace, then generally horizontally out of the furnace access door to a position in which the slab is over the table rolls and finally generally vertically downwardly below the top surface of said table rolls whereby the slab is deposited on said rolls.

5. A slab heating line as claimed in claim 1 wherein the furnace hearth is at a higher level than the rolls and the guide means is a roller and the cam surface is arranged to move the slab receiving surface of the extractor arms from a position within the furnace forming an extension of the hearth generally vertically downwardly until the bottom of a slab thereon is in a plane just above the top of the table rolls, then generally horizontally to a position in which the slab is over the table rolls and finally generally vertically downwardly below the top surface of said table rolls whereby the slab is deposited on said rolls.

6. A slab heating line as claimed in claim 1 wherein the hearth is on a higher level than the top surface of the table rolls and the guide means is a roller and the cam surface is arranged to move the slab receiving surface of the extractor arms from a position forming an extension of the hearth generally vertically downwardly until a slab thereon is just above the level of the top of the table rolls, then horizontally to a position in which the slab is over the table rolls and finally generally vertically downwardly below the top surface of said table rolls whereby the slab is deposited on said rolls.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 646,475 4/ 1900 Swanger. 997,494 7/ 191 1 George. 1,848,898 3/1932 McFarland 2l426 1,875,532 9/1932 VVashburne 19827 XR 2,024,949 12/1935 Schefe 214l8 2,061,358 11/1936 Hunter et a1.

GERALD M. FORLENZA, Primary Examiner.

MORRIS TEMIN, HUGO O. SCHULZ, Examiners. 0 R. G. SHERIDAN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN A SLAB HEATING LINE HAVING A FURNACE, A HEARTH IN SAID FURNACE, AN ENTRY END AND A DELIVERY END ON SAID HEARTH, MEANS SUCCESSIVELY URGING SLABS ACROSS SAID HEARTH TO BE HEATED FROM THE ENTRY TO THE DELIVERY END, TABLE ROLLS ADJACENT SAID FURNACE AT THE DELIVERY END, THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING AN ACCESS OPENING IN THE FURNACE ADJACENT THE TABLE ROLLS AND BELOW THE FURNACE HEARTH, MOVABLE ARM MEANS ADAPTED TO MOVE IN A VERTICAL PLANE PARALLEL TO THE AXES OF THE ROLLS, A SLAB RECEIVING SURFACE ON SAID ARM MEANS MOVABLE WITH THE ARMS FROM A FIRST POSITION WITHIN THE FURNACE FORMING AN EXTENSION OF THE HEARTH TO A SECOND AND LOWER POSITION BENEATH THE TABLE ROLLS, A CAM SURFACE ON SAID ARMS AND A COOPERATING GUIDE MEANS ADJACENT THE FURNACE FOR GUIDING SAID ARMS FROM ONE POSITION TO THE OTHER WHILE RAISING AND LOWERING THE ARMS TO POSITION THE SLAB RECEIVING SURFACE TO PASS THROUGH THE ACCESS OPENING AND DRIVE MEANS ACTING ON SAID ARMS TO MOVE THEN LONGITUDINALLY ON THE GUIDE MEANS. 